"I am completely and utterly speechless; absolutely awestruck. I don't even know what to say. Just. Wow. What an incredible inspiration. I've spent the last several hours engrossed in this site, soaking up the articles and gaping at the paintings. I feel very compelled to register for a life painting course right away at SCAD where I attend university."

From a letter that Egon Bahr wrote to Gottfried Helnwein in 2014, after he saw the painting 'Epiphany I',(mixed media, oil and acrylic on canvas, 1996).
Egon Karl-Heinz Bahr (18 March 1922 – 19 August 2015)
was the creator of the "Ostpolitik" promoted by West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, for whom he served as Secretary of the Chancellor's Office from 1969 until 1972. Between 1972 and 1990 he was an MP in the Bundestag of the Federal Republic of Germany and from 1972 until 1976 was also a Minister of the Federal Government.
Bahr was a key figure in multiple negotiation sessions between not only East and West Germany, but also Germany and the Soviets. In addition to his instrumental role in Ostpolitik, Bahr was also an influential voice in negotiating the Treaty of Moscow, the Treaty of Warsaw, the Transit Treaty of 1971 and the Basic Treaty of 1972.

"Beautiful, beautiful works! Helnwein is reflecting the convulsions of our world with a very clear viewpoint, dark beauty and such an altitude!"

Paul-henry Stem

USA, 2011

"When I stood in front this painting in the exhibition I thought: 'How many times did we look away?' Give yourself the answer ... "

Brigitte P.

2013

"Your work brought instant tears to my eyes"

Aliyah BlazezGurl Del Popolo

Jacobstown, NJ, 2012

"You are seriously one of the most talented artists I've ever seen. Saw one of your "Murmur of the Innocents" pieces in a gallery and my jaw literally dropped!"

Donna Irene Muccio

2011

"...SINCE I WAS A LITTLE CHILD. I know his paintings since I was a little child and made my first steps in a museum- and for me he`s definitely the artist that evokes the most intensive feelings that I Know."

Andre Heinz

2013

"Four years ago, just before I moved downtown, I was invited to an art opening in the building where I live now. I’ll never forget the incredible feeling that came over me as I was catapulted into the mind and imagination of a true genius. I was literally in awe of the work I saw that night: larger than life images of blindfolded children walking through rivers of dead bodies, a woman holding her unclothed baby boy being examined by Nazi soldiers, a little girl lying asleep on her back; angelic and peaceful, while disfigured faced men stand over her like a science project. All so dark and disturbing yet in some strange way beautiful and familiar.
No matter how I try I don’t know if I could ever explain to you how moved I was that night and how humbled I was by the thought that I might live and work in the very same building with this brilliant artist. I soon came to realize that not only is Gottfried a brilliant artist, thinker, and philosopher, but a kind and gentle man as well, with one of the most beautiful families I have ever met."

Citizen LA

Los Angeles

"The best artist in Art Miami! i had the privilege of seen 3 pieces up close! Breathtaking!"

Billy Monsalve Duffo

2011

"This is the most amazing work I ever saw in Albertina (and not only)! You have to check it..."

Ioannis M. Valassakis

2013

"Insane! really beautiful... no words, no words..."

Leandro Henrique Dos Santos

2013

"Gottfried is the only painter I know who's work can make me cry for 3 days. Or just about any time I think of it. Rembrandt made me cry = but not as long."

Glenis Batley

2012

"I Fell in love with your genius
Mr. Helnwein - I saw your exhibit at the Albertina Museum in Vienna the second week of September. I have to say I have a new favorite artist! The detail you bring to each painting, not to mention the raw emotion you convey, is incredible! I could spend hours just staring at the pictures and coming up with many phrases to describe how they make me feel. I am looking forward to the day where your genius can be seen in a museum in Minnesota. Keep up the great work! You are awesome!"

"This man is the most amazing painter I have ever seen. It is unreal... actually, there is no way to explain his talent/gift. No words can describe his work."

Cerridwen Lilith Rowan

2011

"Master, I went to the Museum of San Carlos in Mexico city to see your work, those didn’t generate fear inside mi, but it makes me nostalgic because they reflect the reality of much of my country and the world. The blood is part of our body, but it is ugly to have stained our souls; frivolity and the loss of what makes us human, it is the worst. I wish you Nice week, happy and smart Ideas =). I don’t speak good English but its better to try.
Mestro, fuí al museo de san carlos de la ciudad de México a ver sus obras y no es miedo lo que me generan, pero me da nostalgia saber que reflejan la realidad de mucho de mi país y del mundo. Lo mas feo es saber que a pesar de tener sangre en nuestro cuerpo, esté manchada en nuestra alma, la frivolidad y la perdida de lo que nos hace humanos es lo peor. le deseo una Feliz semana, felices y cretivas ideas (como lo hace siempre)"

Oscar Cruz Sanchez

Mexico, 2013

"Firstly, I realise time is such a precious thing these days, so thankyou for taking the time to read my words.
i wanted to write and tell you how much of an influence your work is to me, not just visual but emotionally, i feel i can connect at a level that surpasses the usual indifference towards another macdonalds golden arch or celebrity appearance. i know that this text is inherently empty, but please let me say that your work matters to me as an artist and as a human being, living in a modern world where war is the new sport.
my name is river hunt, and i live in england where i try an express myself through whatever means i can find. i am 24 years young and I am studying a master degree in art. thankyou sincerely for caring enough to create art that matters.
"Even within the most beautiful landscape, in the trees, under the leaves the insects are eating each other; violence iis a part of life." francis bacon.
best wishes for the future"

river

Great Britain

"Hi there Mr. Helnwein! I hope it's not too strange that I'm sending you a message and that many other people have probably told you this, but I just needed to as well.
Upon looking through your gallery, I honestly got tears in my eyes. Your art is unlike anything I've ever seen. The detail and realism is stunning and each piece is so unique and looks like something out of a dream. As an aspiring artist, it would be my dream to be able to meet you some day and see your breathtaking art up close. Thank you so much for sharing your pieces with this site as I'm overjoyed to have found them. Have a great day."

XxSaralenaxX

2011

"Hello, I was present to walk/ Your guiding through exhibition “Between Innocence and Evil” in Belgrade. And I wish to send You few photography and few impressions. In Belgrade, after opportunity to talk with You, I have a feeling that my English wasn’t good enough and that I maybe wrong described my impressions. Although I’m artist, I work with children in primary School, teaching to art little people. Working at school I see a lot bad intentions in some kids acts, but also many of children have so much empathy for some situations, that they strongly shows that on world all the time exists balance, that empathy don’t disappear. Listening to You this empathy was somehow all time present in your sentences – while You was talking about different topics, I have impression that you are so incredibly interested on the moment and on history, listening public, students, and also so strong interested on every situations on Your paintings. I like Your work in years, because of concept, painting techniques, many reasons….but also because I still thinking how beautiful is that one person see so many “invisible” “parallel” “forgotten” stories, historical, or now actual, that he/art work speaking so deep about the society… And in Belgrade I wish to mention that wars in Balkan influence on my family, that that period, years, migration, some illnesses, situations - changed us… People are in change all the time of their lives, certainly, but it is difficult when we go through a lot bad experience in just a few years. It is beautiful when society, people, notice persons which surrounding them, and when people help, empathize, or just try to influence on many situations. React. My family is at these days in life rhythm which satisfied us, and everyone individually reach some level of tranquility/ happiness. But it was necessary to invest years and years to understand past, find way to impact everything in private and collective history, thinking about pain, decisions, and consequences….it is life, and each life is always so rich, all cycles are in some way beautiful. Of course, now it's easy for me to say this, because my family gets out of decades of problems, periods of life maturation, medical treatments, acceptance. But many people are victims of new wars, or some torture, terrible things. And I do not know will I ever put these subjects in my art, but it was so emotionally important for me when I see how some artist speak in name of thousands, millions persons…. Thank You. It was very strong experience for me, but I didn’t find words to express in gallery. Mr. Helnwein, I wish You all the best. I’m happy to have opportunity to see Your art in live, to listen to You. It was important moment for me, suppose for many persons."

B.

Source

Belgrade, Serbia

facebook, 2015

"I'm a college student and about a year ago I saw someone on campus walking around in full Nazi dress doing the Hitler salute. People were looking away, not wanting to look at a figure that makes them uncomfortable. I approached him and asked why he was dressed as such a terrible figure. He smiled and said I was the first one to even notice him all day. He said he was a performance artist and that I should look you up. I did. Honestly, I couldn't handle your work initially. My partner is a neo-nazi white supremacist, and it made me reflect on what I passively accept. The people he hates were once children and have children and I can't understand how he can hate something so innocent. Like most, because I felt uncomfortable, I tried to forget about your art. But I couldn't. The "Beautiful Victim" became children I knew or simply passed in the supermarket. My partner asked what was bothering me, and I explained my guilt for how passive I was about his ideology, hate, and anger. He initially couldn't believe that art could affect me the way it did. After showing him your work from your site, he had no reaction. At least that's what I thought. Over the next few days he became increasingly irritable. He was wearing his swastika shirt and iron cross even more often, and went nowhere without his red suspenders. Then after a week of this anger, he woke me up in the middle of the night. He had a nightmare. In it he was back in kindergarten. He was selected along with black, Jewish, Asian, and Mexican children to be killed or totured by some of his fellow skinheads, but kept insisting he was one of them. He was so afraid, he woke up crying. Since, he hasn't worn his swastika, cross, or suspenders. He's also growing his hair out. The derogatory comments about my Hispanic heritage have stopped, and he doesn't try to intimidate people different than him. It's been almost a year since his change. We saw your work at the Museum yesterday and were recaptured by your honesty. I was prompted by the Nazi officers in the image--thinking about how he used to idolize these men-- to ask him why he changed. He said it is so easy to put space between us and the people in the photos from the war. It was so long ago, on the other side of the world, and maybe they deserved it. But these children in your images are so real. They could have been our son or daughter or even us! The word selection was powerful for him, he told me. It was hard for him to ignore his feelings after your art, but he tried. Then, his nightmare made him realize that the differences in people like skin color or religion are so small that it's stupid to classify people by. And after thinking about it, he decided that what he hates is laziness, corruption, theft, and other traits that he ascribed to "lower races." He couldn't accept that the race he was a part of could be capable of those traits, so he pushed them into others. Whatever you do, it changes people. I never thought my partner would respect people different from him. Thank you for what you have done. Thank you for your art and making people face reality. You changed our lives. Thank you. I'm sure you hear it a lot, but thank you. I hope you have an exhibit in Denver some day. There are lots of hateful people here that need to be exposed to your work. Thank you."

"You are by faremost the most interesting and gifted artist i have ever layed my eyes upon. You are my number one hero and on the top of my bucketlist! Hope to meet you in person one day. Who knows, one can only dream.."

Christiane Vleugels

2015

"hey man. saw your exhibition in waterford at the fringe festival few years ago. never seen anything like it! loved every second there! totally inspiring"

Fionn Hurley

2010

"I keep thinking about how lucky I am to have met you @ your show here in NYC! That was surreal and amazing! Love everything you do"

"Years and years ago I bought a book of postcards of Helnwein's art.The work was burned in my mind but I hadn't looked at any of his collections for years. Yesterday something triggered a memory of his work and I decided to find of images of the pieces that were familiar and much much I had never seen. I was feeling beaten down by the world today and I wanted to look at something that feel familiar yet disturbing. I love the work. I wish there was a way to contact the artist directly."

Gabrielle Electra Messina

Cleveland, OH USA, 2013

"Hello!
I am ashamed to say that despite living in Ireland, I have never actually seen one of your intensely moving [ to me] art works. [ well at least that I am aware of]
I came across your website just a few days ago and have been bowled over by the images.They have stayed with me for the past few days and I just wanted to tell you that they have touched me deeply.
I am sure its all been said before, but I started to wonder why they have such an impact when one often sees images of terrible suffering and atrocities on tv etc
After looking and thinking about them it became clear to me that your paintings are here for ever, larger than life, not disappearing off a tv screen in a few seconds to be dismissed as something we must be made aware of, but almost being given permission to let go of the impact and emotions they evoke as quickly as they appeared.
I would love to see a video of how many people, if any, who see them for even a second or two, could actually make a choice to ignore them, and see what sort of facial and bodily expressions these people have compared to those that take the time to absorb them.
What a gift to the world."

Catherine R.

Co.Wicklow, Ireland, 2012

"Thank you for painting the truth. Very few artists today take seriously their responsibility to hold the publics attention to these important matters. "

"◦ Gottfried!! i could say you inspire me, so, so and so, but the true is that what inspires me in you is such more than that, ive seen and learned how to think!, besides that, the way i see you, is as a kind of a model of life to me. Your like a father, i could say even as a kind of heroe. And probably ill never gonne to met you personaly, so, i say blessings for you and your family, Thank you very much for your work and carreer, it dignifies Art!"

Patrik Arte

2011

"◦ Hello, I'm a photography student from Israel in my second year of studies in Wizo Academy, and I'm currently working on a series inspired by Helnwein's art. I'd love to get in touch with Gottfried to learn about his working and creating process. Please, if possible contact me via Facebook."

Anat Finkelstien

Israel, 2010

"Hello, dear Mr. Helnwein ! - Couple of days ago I have watched on German TV the docu "Helnweins Kinder". What a wondeful family you have... On my own I experienced a very violent childhood and after the demise of my mother in January this year at the age of 69 I found from medical reports that she had suffered on her on heavily violence by her husband (father) during last 10 years, inclusive an enforced abortion in the midth 70th. I say this as I am very aware about the misuse of children for parent's own benefit, manipulating the psyche of children badly. I would like to say, that your pedagogy of educating your own children is same important as your art work. Keep going.... ;-) I wish you all the best for the exhebition HELNWEIN RETROSPEKTIVE IN DER ALBERTIN in Vienna... :-) You tricked me heavily with your mega-sized paintings.... 1st moment I have seen I thought, its photography. Amazing work... My warmest greetings from Hanseatic City Hamburg."

"We visited here on a recent trip to beautiful Vienna it is very interesting and some of the Picasso works are amazing but for me the exhibition by Gottfried Helnwein was absolutely amazing. I have to admit I had not heard of this gifted artist but I will be following his future work with much interest. His work is thought provoking in the extreme and it certainly gave me a lot of food for thought. Wonderful.."

"I teach history and humanties. I show your work to my students every year. You have amazing talent and vision!"

Suzanne Volke

2015

"ich hab`mich verliebt in deine werke. - wunder, wunder, wunderbar!"

Louisa Galow

2011

"His work opens you up and you can't escape, and it is good..."

Wilfried Rimensberger

2010

"i have no words to describe what helnwein produces in my soul."

SOLARIXX

2012

"Hi, my name is Leisa and I just recently discovered your works.
I would just like to provide you with some feedback, because I feel I must say what I have to say.
I had never used the internet before until the other day; and if I hadn't have come across your work by accident while searching for images of Marilyn Manson (which that thought I now find frightening) I would not be sitting here amazed at the way you communicate through your art, inspired and intrigued.
You re-opened my eyes to a world inside me that I believed was dying; a world of both awe and understanding of human beings, in a way that can only be done without words.
I find your work strangely dream-like, somehow 'unsettled' and yet peaceful at the same time, and incredibly intimate.
I thank whoever or whatever it was that first inspired your interest in art, though I know myself that sometimes an artist is simply born, but it takes emotional intelligence to be able to connect with these feelings and communicate them through art.
I believe that you see and feel the world in a unique way, and I would like to thank you for being in this world, and for the marvellous beauty that is your art.
Thank you"

"... one of the art museums (The Legion of Honor, San Francisco) , provided a challenge that I wasn’t expecting on this trip. After walking through an entire building full of pictures, we walked into an exhibit called ‘The Child: Works by Gottfried Helnwein’. Not fireplace material. Unlike the rest of the museum, this exhibit was contemporary art and quite contrasting to the rest of the museum.
Helnwein painted extremely realistic images of children’s emotional pain as if it were visible on a physical level. He drew beautiful young girls with subtle physical deformities that made the onlooker look twice. In another piece, Helnwein turns the table. He paints nine men standing around a table, looking out as if the painting were a photograph. On the table before them, there is a child; only the child has absolutely no physical imperfections. The men have deformities. However, Helnwein primarily focuses on the anguish of young girls.
At first sight of Helnwein’s work, part of me was appalled. The other half of me was curious. In most situations, I side with my curious half and this time was no different. I knew there was profound meaning behind every painting and drawing. I slowly walked through the exhibit alone, studying each piece very carefully. I walked on - mouth closed.
How easy it is to pass by the things we do not understand and hand out a label that might comfort our ignorance. I could have v-lined for the exit, ignored my curiosity and not given the exhibit another thought. But how could have that helped me? How could I take and grow from that experience? Because I decided to seek and understand Helnwein’s art, I was able to see the empathy God has blessed him with – the explicit visions he is able to create to awaken our naive hearts to the sound of our children’s pain."

k.wing

Azusa Pacific University, 2004

"hi! mr.gotffried,thanks for share this masterpieces..i`m really shocked..whit your work. you touched my sensibility...that for me is called art."

Albert Fluvià

2011

"I love you Gottfried Helnwein . Love You, Love your mind..."

Yz BT

2011

"I am approaching you on behalf of the Museum on the Seam, a socio-political contemporary art museum in Jerusalem.
I was impressed by your work recently at the Albertina in Vienna for the second time after being exposed to your creative work
first in 2010, at the Tel Aviv Opera House in the occasion of Hanoch Levin's "the child dreams".
I would like to discuss with you the possibility of showing a few works from your art at the museum on the seam.
I was thinking to dedicate a space that will include only your work and will deal with the innocent world of a child
alarmed by his/her inner world and outer world that surrounds him/her.
Since I find in your work a deep and sensitive touch to this world I speak of, I am confident that such a show will open new horizons to share with our audience. "

Raphie Etgar

Curator & Art Director Museum on the Seam, Israel, 2013

"Hello, dear Mr. Helnwein ! - Couple of days ago I have watched on German TV the docu "Helnweins Kinder". What a wondeful family you have... On my own I experienced a very violent childhood and after the demise of my mother in January this year at the age of 69 I found from medical reports that she had suffered on her on heavily violence by her husband (father) during last 10 years, inclusive an enforced abortion in the midth 70th. I say this as I am very aware about the misuse of children for parent's own benefit, manipulating the psyche of children badly. I would like to say, that your pedagogy of educating your own children is same important as your art work. Keep going.... ;-) I wish you all the best for the exhebition HELNWEIN RETROSPEKTIVE IN DER ALBERTIN in Vienna... :-) You tricked me heavily with your mega-sized paintings.... 1st moment I have seen I thought, its photography. Amazing work..."

"I recently saw your works in San Francisco at the Palace of the Legion of Honor. I took a friend and two teen age girls to see Marylin Manson on his Lest We Forget tour and then to your awesome exhibit the next day. To see your work in person is a must. It is chilling. The girls totally loved it and I have sucessfully corrupted yet three more unsuspecting innocents. One of the girls had never been to a museum, and has had a very hard and disturbing life. She is a budding artist herself, and she was awestruck. She identified with the art, it was her. I had to drag her from the museum. She is possibly going to get to go on student exchange program to Demark or Hungary this year which would be her first time out of the country. This trip will change her life. Do you ever meet children to discuss your art and your concepts? Is there a way she could come to see you at work? I will at least give her directions to your museum or exhibits in Europe. Your art is changing healing people. Thank you."

barbw

San Francisco, 2004

"Dear Mr. Gottfried Helnwein,
My friend and Scenographer Mr. Erhard Rom just a moment ago tuned me into your site and works.
I am inspired yet enraged. You work expresses a high context of thinking and feeling. It grabs my mind and soul, brings me to a land inside my body, truth of existence. Yes Truth. Your Scenography is explosive and intriguing. The world that you create on stage is zeitgeist. It is alive, it speaks the truth, and it expresses the human experience.
Enraged: I live in one of the most interesting cities in the world, New York City, yet I am decentralized by USA and the constrictive masses that are imprisoned by their own fear.
My country is in a state of repetition, Generally new ideas do not exist, and the society needs to feel safe and live in bleakness of art and vision. We repeat and resurrect the past. Our films, theater and thinking are a mere regurgitation of what once was. We are turning in on our selves closing the doors to the world around us. New Ideas, New visions are generally not excepted. In the USA a being is only Good if they have embraced capitalism and the values that have brainwash society to think they need to have what their neighbor has, a TV, a video player, the newest item on the market. I am on an island, a wasteland, trapped were I cannot express my vision. I continue but I often think that I must wage artistic and visual war on the United States of America is it worth it? Yes, but all the creative individuals are decentralized by capitalism. Eventually they will implode in to valueless reality. We need to centralize as a world.
You have lifted my spirits and my sense of self, knowing that it is ok to think in live a realm of dreams, I am and all ways will be a dreamer. I will continue the path of truth, knowing that I am not alone. Knowing that what is in side my, body, mind, heart and soul cannot be stopped.
I am an atom Bomb of expression; all art in USA is suppressed at this moment, it will be released.
Ciao,"

Danielé P.

New York, 2005

"From the extreme south of Italy, we came to Vienna for just one day to see your fantastic exhibition! Just thank you for your Art... Your works are a glimmer of hope for young and inexperienced artists like us. Best wishes, C. & D."

C. & D.

La Via Della Creatività, 2013

"Have to say That I rarely was so impressed by an exhibition"

Elisabeth Perwanger

2013

"Hello Gottfried
While traversing through the Kingdom of Infinite Possibilities which is the world wide web I came upon the Bright Blessing which is your site. Sharing of ones Self Illuminates the Path of Awareness and Wisdom for all who cross your Path. I Enjoyed your Creative Expression. You follow your own Rhythm and you have Knowledge within. Bravo! May yours be a Sacred Understanding which gives you Inner Peace of Mind that you may Flourish and Prosper.
My name is Micheal Lucien Teal . I am a Shamanic Researcher, Poet and Spiritual Entrepeneur in Hamilton Ontario . Thank you for Sharing your Spiritual Voice. We all have an Immortal Intellect which carries with it Ageless Messages. I Enjoyed your Perspective . Your pages have Creative Sustenance to Nourish those Blessed to find you in Cyberspace. I wish you a Universal Holiness open to Unimaginable Possibilities.
May you always be the Master of your own Life and may the Spirit of the Eagle guide you to Soar with the Angels,
Yours in Bliss and Transformation"

"Faith, Hope and Charity.... the best paint expo of 2012 in Mexico City...... a great miror of the shadow of the soul.... THANKS SO MUCH to visit us in Mexico City...."

Mariano Gutierrez Campos

Mexico, 2012

"tu instalacion en Mexico Excelente gracias por caompartir!!"

Marco Laz

Mexico, 2012

"I loved your expo in Mexico and planning on going again this week. I already recommended it to all photographers and visual artists in my school, the Visual Arts Academy. Thanks for bringing this amazing art to Mexico."

"Hello,
My name is Luis A. Ruiz and I am a CG artist in Hollywood,CA and man...I
found your site by accident. I am floored! Mr. Helnwein, you are a true
artist..never let the conservative nature of humanity keep you down. I
think the evolution of your expression is apparent. I give you thanks for
your inspiration and wish you the best of all things and continued success!
Peace"

"hello ,mr. helnwein ,my name is christel I have 21 years ,Im fan of your art, is my inspiration for my work , I never seen nothing like your painting and photographs, Im very impressed whith your thematic is very strong ,I LIKE VERY MUCH your work, I from chile..."

Christel Vega Miranda

Chile, 2012

"I wish you can come to Monterrey, México! : I Super love The murmur of the Innocents"

"Mr Helnwein, I just saw your show at the Crocker, it blew me away! The realism that's conveyed in the art is fenomenally created!!! I have outmost respect for you. Thank you for letting the world peek inside your mind...."

Manny Tezza

USA, 2011

"Thank you so much for sharing your work in Sacramento, we are honored. Amazing exhibit. Thank you for being"

"Hello,
My name is Patrick Crease and I'm an architecture student based at the
university of Liverpool, England. I have just undertaken a project based on the
design of a house for Gottfried Helnwein and was wondering if it would be
possible if you could provide me with some information as to how Mr Helnwein
spends his day and what is really important to him and his lifestyle.
Any help would be very much appreciated, having looked into the work of Mr
Helnwein i am very impressed and intrigued into his character."

Patrick C.

University of Liverpool, 2003

"Greetings!! Wouw!! I am an Opera-Rock singer from Argentina (now living in Italy). Your work is F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C!"

"Your work is breathe taking! I envy you because you're so free! I wish I could express and be as free as you...."

DaddyImFine

2006

"Creator of awarness!"

Giuseppe Ancona

2011

"This is a very classy museum (Albertina Museum) just behind the Opera House. The part that impressed us most was the Helmvein exhibition. This explores a number of issues, including the failure to purge Austria of Nazis after the war."